Tales of the Vuduri: Year Two

by Michael Brachman

  Entry 2-327: November 18, 2014

 

  Mutt and Jeff

 

  There's something inherently comical about a very tall person standing next to a short one. Couples where there is a large height disparity seem curious. When I was growing up, I used to read a comic strip called Mutt and Jeff which was exactly that, a tall guy and a short guy doing wacky things together.

  Funny, right? When I started crafting the world of Rome's Revolution, I always had in the back of my mind that winnowing down the population would give the opportunity to change the general characteristics of humankind. I took the opportunity to have humans end up quite a bit shorter; Rome is just over five feet tall. In contrast, the Essessoni (us) are, well, our size. So Rei is often described as "towering over the Vuduri" and not just because of his height but because of his musculature. In other words, I believe the Vuduri were diminutive. It gave me a lot of material to fill out the book when contrasting the two sets of people.

  Yesterday, I described the scene where Rome appears to reject Rei, leaving him for good. Now Rei loves her very much and isn't going to just let her walk out of his life without a fight. But making the Vuduri diminutive would make it seem that Rei could overpower any Vuduri that got in his way but for the plot to continue, Rome needs to go. See if you think I was able to sidestep this issue:

  Rome disappeared from view and Pegus followed her out, closing the door behind him. Rei tried to move in that direction but the two guards, who were burly by Vuduri standards, stopped him. He struggled mightily, however, they were simply too strong for him. He tried to take a swing at one guard but the guard caught his fist and twisted Rei’s arm around behind him. The other guard locked his arm around Rei’s neck and squeezed until he became faint. While Rei was an athlete, he had never been trained on hand-to-hand combat. He could not overcome the two of them singlehandedly. Finally, he gave up. He knew when he was defeated. A kind of catatonia set in.

  Of course when the movies get made, the first thing the producer and director are going to do is eliminate the size difference between the two groups of people. It makes casting harder and it isn't germane to the plot so bye-bye Mutt and Jeff.

 

  Entry 2-328: November 19, 2014

 

  The journey begins

 

  Yesterday, I gave you the scene where Rei struggles briefly with the guards in the beginning of Part 2 of Rome's Revolution. Once he was defeated physically, he was destroyed emotionally believing that he had lost Rome forever. Rome had left and Rei kind of shut down inside. The guards had very little trouble getting him out of the palace and dumping him in the village that would someday become Ibbra City.

  After a short while, the two guards put their arms under Rei’s shoulders and marched him back to the elevator. Rei did not resist. All of the fight had been taken out of him. The look on Rome’s face was all it took. She was back in, part of the Overmind. His Rome was gone. His world was gone.

  Rei barely noticed them transporting him to the spaceport and loading him into one of their craft, substantially smaller than his tug. The transport resembled a bizarre form of a bus or helicopter fuselage. Had Rei paid more attention, he would have thought it was almost insect-like. At each corner, mounted on stilts, were four oversized EG lifters.

  They placed Rei in a seat next to the outer wall but he paid no attention. His passivity made it seem as if a zombie had been placed on board. One of the Vuduri had to come over and buckle him in. Rei felt a slight vibration as the craft lifted off but without windows, there was nothing to see. He did not care. He didn’t even notice how long they were flying.

  The ship set down in a field of day-glo yellow thread-like grass. The soldiers had to practically shove him out the door, so lost was Rei. The repulsor field from the shuttle pushed him in the back and knocked him over. He didn’t even try and break his fall. Rei just lay in the grass and then he started to cry with great racking sobs. He cried and he cried. He cried for a long time then he fell asleep.

  Sad, huh? Sometimes I feel bad that I have to put my characters through so much but how can you have drama without drama?

 

  Entry 2-329: November 20, 2014

 

  Transports and Wienermobiles

 

  Yesterday, I gave you the scene from Part 2 of Rome's Revolution whereby the guards in the Vuduri palace took Rei and dumped him outside the Ibbrassati village. If you were paying attention, you would have caught the fact that Rei was taken away in a new kind of vehicle:

  The transport resembled a bizarre form of a bus or helicopter fuselage. Had Rei paid more attention, he would have thought it was almost insect-like. At each corner, mounted on stilts, were four oversized EG lifters.

  I figured the Vuduri had to have some sort of transports both on the ground and through the air. In my mind, I saw a vehicle somewhat like a military transport helicopter:

  I thought the fuselage would be rounder, a little like the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile:

  I actually saw the Wienermobile one time when I was on a business trip to Houston. It was pretty cool and left a lasting impression in my mind so the Vuduri transport is just the 35th century flying equivalent.

 

  Entry 2-330: November 21, 2014

 

  Threadgrass

 

  As I have mentioned numerous times, I am not much interested in describing the environment of the alien worlds of Rome's Revolution because I am too anxious to get to the action. I know that you have to and I force myself to do so but I could do better.

  A while back, I did try and enumerate the flora on Deucado and it is a very short list. I really only have the cane-trees, the sticky bushes and the threadgrass. Two days ago, I described the scene where Rei was dumped into a field just outside of the village that would later be known as Ibbra City.

  As you are well aware, the primary star, Tau Ceti, has a slight shift in spectrum so the plants on Deucado have adapted to make maximum use of the sunlight. The threadgrass is bright yellow, nearly day-glo, and is ubiquitous. Much later, as described in The Ark Lords, the people living there have created a bison herd that range freely and have learned to eat the threadgrass. It flavors the meat and makes it quite spicy which everyone enjoys. I decided to try and show you what threadgrass looks like but I don't know if I succeeded or not. It's hard to find actual pictures of day-glo yellow threadgrass so this is the best I could do:

  Tasty looking, huh? Well it would be if you were a bison living on an alien world in the 35th century.

 

  Entry 2-331: November 22, 2014

 

  Rome collapses

 

  No, not the city of Rome. I am talking about the heroine of the novel Rome's Revolution collapsing right after she was injected with the gene soup that would reconnect her to the Overmind of Deucado. Rei was gone. Rome left the surgical suite with a dramatic flourish but unbeknownst to Rei, she could barely walk due to her polyhydramnios. In fact, well, here it is:

  As soon as Rome and Pegus were out the door of the reconnection room, coincident with the sound of the doors closing behind them, Rome breathed a guttural cry and collapsed to the floor of the hallway. Pegus kneeled beside her and two other Vuduri came and lifted her by her shoulders. Pegus took her feet and they carried her down the hall to another medical suite, two doors down.

  They laid Rome on the examining table. She was out cold. A medic came in with a listening device and pressed it to her chest and sides. Wordlessly, orders were given and the attendants carefully removed her jumpsuit and started up an IV. They attached some leads to her chest and head and to her abdomen. Silently, the medic ordered two types of medication introduced into her IV. An oxygen mask was placed over her mouth and nose. The monitors at the head of the bed came alive with a multitude of readouts.

  The medic studied the readouts for a while then turned toward Rome. The AI had determined that
she was suffering from polyhydramnios, an excess of fluid in the womb. The medic palpated her abdomen for a long time observing the change in the readouts each time he pressed. At last, a technician came over and swabbed the area on her enlarged abdomen where Rome had been previously injected with the local anesthetic. Using an imager, the medic carefully inserted a thin catheter connected to a large syringe into her uterus. He pulled back on the plunger and extracted a substantial quantity of slightly cloudy but otherwise colorless amniotic fluid. He did this several times ultimately accumulating nearly a liter of fluid. The procedure took a while but eventually, the size of Rome’s stomach shrank slightly.

  This scene is essentially Rome reborn yet again. She has gone into a psychic cocoon and when she emerges, she will be "the new Rome" ready to take on the Overmind. By the way, I didn't make this up. This is actually the medically approved way to remove too much amniotic fluid. You just drain some of the fluid away.

 

  Entry 2-332: November 23, 2014

 

  The Overmind cometh

 

  In the middle of Part 2 of Rome's Revolution, after she left Rei behind, Rome collapsed and was taken to a medical suite for treatment of her polyhydramnios. In the mean time, the reconnection procedure was a rousing success and even though Rome's body was helpless, her mind was active.

  As we know, the Vuduri never do anything without an agenda and the reconnection procedure was a ruse so that the Overmind could find out where the Ark was hidden, just as Rei predicted. The bodiless entity did not waste any time worming its way into Rome's mind:

  In the mean time, Rome’s mind had become disconnected from her body. She was conscious but unable to will her eyes or body to respond. She could sense what the medic was doing. Within her mind, she had come to the same conclusion that the problem was the fluid, not the baby. The baby himself was fine. Why she was generating too much fluid was not clear but in some inexplicable way, she knew it was the baby commanding her body to do so in his desperate search for a connection.

  As the medic continued to reduce the volume of amniotic fluid, even though she could not react, Rome felt some relief. She was able to breath regularly again. Her focus went inward. Now that she was able to attend, she noticed the tendrils of the Overmind probing her memories.

  The Overmind was focusing specifically on their landing and the Ark. All it found were images of an explosion, fire, and destruction, the sinking of the Ark beneath the dark waters of Lake Eprehem. The Overmind saw Rei and Rome landing near the settlement on its banks. The entity saw how they met up with one of the mandasurte living there. Rei had only his pressure suit and the mandasurte gave him some clothes to wear. Like a movie, the Overmind watched Rome’s distress and the two of them deciding to fly to the Vuduri complex. And it saw their coming here, to the compound, to this room.

  All lies. How did Rome do it? More tomorrow.

 

  Entry 2-333: November 24, 2014

 

  The die is cast

 

  I've been told that one of the guiding principles in writing compelling novels is to introduce your protagonist and their situation to the audience within the first sentence or two of your book. The same thing is true in the "real" life of the characters within Rome's Revolution.

  As we saw yesterday, Rome's body was helpless and the Overmind thought it could just waltz in and take what it wanted. However the memories that it retrieved were not the memories it was expecting. Here is their mental sparring:

  “This is not the truth. How are you doing this?” the Overmind demanded.

  At first, Rome ignored its entreaties. The Overmind was insistent. “I know that you can hear me,” it said. “I know that you are fully aware of my thoughts. I need an answer. How can these be your memories?”

  “This is exactly what happened,” the unconscious Rome thought. “What other explanation could there be?”

  “You are supplying false memories. How can this be? What are you?” the Overmind asked her. “How can you control your thoughts, your memories like this? It is not possible.”

  “It is possible that this is the truth.”

  “It is not the truth. I ask you again: what are you?”

  “You ask the wrong question,” Rome replied. “Do not ask what am I. Instead, you must ask who am I?”

  “I know who you are,” replied the Overmind. “You are Rome.”

  “That is my name, not who I am,” replied Rome.

  “What is the distinction?” asked the Overmind.

  “Dig deeper into my memories. Look at my past. Ignore what you think is the truth. Look at how I got here. There is only one thing you must know.”

  Within Rome’s mind, the horrifying image of the Stareater appeared, the one that consumed Winfall. And the second one that came after Tabit, the one that OMCOM destroyed.

  “Look and look well,” Rome thought. “This is the end of all life. This is why I am here. It will be the end of you if you do not attend to this lesson. You will not survive contact. This is who I am. I am your savior. I am here to rescue you.”

  Rome felt the Overmind dig deeper. She watched as it replayed all the events of the last year. The Overmind brought up images of the Ark, of Skyler Base, Rei, the star probes, the discovery of the Stareater, the Vuduri becoming incapacitated and the VIRUS units destroying the marauder.

  “How can I know that these images are true?” asked the Overmind. “How can I be certain that these memories are true? Why should I believe you?”

  Rome replied, “It is your choice. You have the reports from Skyler Base to corroborate them. You can choose to know this is true. You ask me why the distinction between what and who I am? You only know one way to approach things. The time has come to start asking new questions. You need new answers. Within what you are now lay the seeds of your destruction.”

  What the Overmind did not realize was that it had already lost the battle before it even started. The very fact that she could generate false memories should have been its first clue that Rome was something utterly new and different. The fact that it was even listening to Rome's assertions should have been its second. The die had been cast. The Overmind spent the remainder of Part 2 coming to grips with this fact.

 

  Entry 2-334: November 25, 2014

 

  Mr. Know-it-all

 

  Within the world of Rome's Revolution, wherever the Vuduri reside, the Overmind there controls all things. The Vuduri serve the Overmind. The problem is these Overminds have no clue what they are doing. Which means they are clueless to this flaw. It took Rome only a few minutes to awaken the Overmind to this sobering fact.

  Rome said, “You only know one way to approach things. The time has come to start asking new questions. You need new answers. Within what you are now lies the seeds of your destruction.”

  “This is not possible,” said the Overmind. “I have the knowledge of all Vuduri, my path is the right one.”

  “You have all the knowledge of the Vuduri but not the wisdom. Nor do you even realize that they are different,” Rome thought not altogether unkindly. “The very first thing you must accept is that there are things in this universe that are outside of your experience. And those things are coming to kill you and all life.”

  The Overmind continued to probe, following all the leads, cataloging Rome’s memories and her experiences. When it ran into a dead-end, it backed up and started over. The Overmind compared each of Rome’s memories to other memories, external thoughts and recordings. Within the correlation matrix, there was substantial overlap and still, there was a mismatch. Slowly, the areas open to it began to close off. Soon, the Overmind could not access anything more than Rome’s superficial thoughts.

  “Open your mind more,” the Overmind demanded, “I need more.”

  “No,” was Rome’s reply. “I do not wish to. I have matters more pressing than your petty curiosity.”

  “I
will push harder. I will break you,” the Overmind said. “I will control your thoughts.”

  “You cannot. I control my own thoughts,” Rome said defiantly.

  “Then I will remove you. I do not want you as part of me.”

  Who does he think he is, this Overmind? He just ran into the buzz saw named Rome. Tomorrow, I'll show you how Rome humbled this great and powerful creature with a simple flick of her mental wrist.

 

  Entry 2-335: November 26, 2014

 

  Show, don’t tell

 

  One of the founding principles of good writing is show, don't tell. People want to use their imagination not just have you tell them what to think. In the Rome's Revolution series, I have tried to follow this golden rule with greater or lesser success. However, there are times when I amuse even myself with a clever way of doing just that.

  For example, yesterday, I showed you how the Overmind flexed its mental muscles and committed to proving to Rome it was boss. The problem was it didn't realize it had already been bumped from its position of power. Oh, it blustered all right:

  “I will push harder. I will break you,” the Overmind said. “I will control your thoughts.”

  “You cannot. I control my own thoughts,” Rome said defiantly.

  “Then I will remove you. I do not want you as part of me.”

  “Cesdiud?” Rome thought. “I have already done that once. I am not interested.”

  “It is not up to you. You will be Cesdiud again. I will cast you out.”

  “No you will not,” Rome thought. “I will not allow it.”